After speaking to farmers in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, who grow everything from strawberry and asparagus to apples, barley, potatoes, watermelons, broccoli and squash, the Globe and Mail concluded that Canada’s food supply is threatened by the coronavirus pandemic.

Canada relies on about 60,000 seasonal agricultural and other temporary workers on farms — workers farmers say are critical to reliable food production. The federal government will continuing allow their entry despite invoking strict border measures during the pandemic, but stipulates that they must self-isolate for 14 days upon entering the country – taking them out of the work force for two weeks. The logistics of getting seasonal workers here have also become very complicated, with visa offices in Mexico having been closed and flights suddenly becoming scarce.

In Ontario alone, the province is short 3,000 workers from where it normally should be, according to Ken Forth, the president of the private-sector organization FARMS.

Meanwhile, agriculture industry experts say an outbreak of COVID-19 reported among migrant farm workers in B.C. should be a wake up call for the sector and remind farmers to take every measure possible to prevent the spread of the virus. That’s from the Toronto Star.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau said on Wednesday that businesses and workers hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic won’t have access to the new federal wage subsidy program for between three and six weeks. As iPolitics Jolson Lim reports, the timing of the first payments depends on how fast the Canada Revenue Agency can build the digital infrastructure to accept and process applications. The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy offers to subsidize 75 per cent of the first $58,700 of employees’ income, if their business has seen a 30-per-cent drop in revenue because of the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic is one factor that will likely delay the implementation of the new trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico, which U.S. President Donald Trump has said he hopes will take effect on June 1. CBC News has more details.

The Dairy Farmers of Ontario are warning producers that milk dumping that may occur in the coming weeks as the pandemic’s closure of schools, businesses and many restaurants will likely slow down milk demand. Real Agriculture has more.

The Chinese city of Shenzhen has banned the eating of dogs and cats as part of a wider clampdown on the wildlife trade since the emergence of the new coronavirus. Authorities in the southern Chinese technology hub said the ban on eating dogs and cats would come into force on May 1. (Reuters)

China’s fruit farmers, hurt by lost crops from coronavirus lockdowns and a slow recovery in demand, are looking to reduce plantings, switch crops or even take other jobs to cover their losses. China is the largest producer of many fruits, accounting for over half the world’s apples and roughly 70 per cent of all grapefruit, peaches, tangerines and pears, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. (Reuters)

Costa Rican flower farmers have started destroying lilies, roses and chrysanthemums they have lovingly tended for months after the coronavirus outbreak led to the suspension of flights to markets in the United States and Canada. March and April are usually the top months in revenue terms for flower farms in Costa Rica, one of the largest exporters in the Americas, with Mother’s Day in the United States generating peak demand. (Reuters)